I keep coming back to Windows Phone

[ian_pam]

I was a Nokia Symbian user and when Nokia started endorsing windows phone it was obvious that I would get one, started with Lumia 520 and I was blown away with the fluidity and all the extra incentives nokia bundled with it, decided to move to Lumia 925 and then L930, all my family had a windows phone, then Microsoft happened with Windows 10 mobile and their lack of love of their own OS.
App gap is a reality and those who are saying only social apps are needed are wrong. I needed banking apps, Medical apps like Medscape, a music streaming app that was not broken, and the last straw was a phone supported by the carrier I needed. Also the instability of windows 10 mobile was grating with constant hanging and restarts, I also started noticing more then half of the games and apps I bought were not working forget crashing. The constant love Microsoft gave to other OS did not help either and I went the android way. I do miss windows and miss the UI and the idea of a productive phone, I still have all the windows phone with me which I regularly update and the latest fast build, which I think is the creator update is very fluid and promising.
But, I don't think until Microsoft commits 100% to the OS and courts developers will I consider coming back.

 

[DarthVedder]

I haven't fully left, since a Lumia Icon is still my secondary and seldom used phone. I wanted to use it for entertainment/music/movies, but it has been left behind and now I only use it to catch up with a couple whatsapp groups/contacts that don't have my main phone (an iPhone).

I like Windows’ Look & feel, and IOS is boring in comparison, but frankly, and I hate to say this, the iPhone just works. I know it's not perfect and has a few bugs, but it's nothing compared to what I had to endure with the various Windows phone iterations I've used. I've used iPhones for a long time and I have never been forced to recover a phone or factory reset a phone just because of an OS update. I've had to do that a few times with Windows, and the last time I was scared because it seemed that the phone was bricked.

So what would make me come back and use a WM as my main/only phone?

1. Apps, apps, apps. Not only access to the currently non-existing major ones (including a few that are vital to me, like Google services), but the ones that exist have to be at least equal in quality and features to IOS Apps. The fact that even Microsoft apps are better on other platforms is just shameful.
2. Better integration with Window 10 desktop. I want to easily and wirelessly sync, share and control screens in both directions, use the phone as a touch enabled screen for my desktop computer.
3. Killer hardware. I like to have a GREAT phone, and Lumias used to be among the best phones out there, design and hardware wise.
4. OS Stability and pain-free upgrades.
5. OS Features. They should at the very least offer parity with the latest IOS iteration.

 

[DaleAStiles]

In a lot of ways I never left... yes I did but I never stopped thinking about my Windows Mobile from back in the day. It had it all. Then Windows Phone happened and features fell away. I've always had a Windows Mobile/Windows Phone in a drawer and have bought a new AT&T GoPhone each year to keep up with the platform but instability, the lost features, the app gap always kept me from staying long. Windows Phone was /the/ fastest way to take a picture and then post it to Facebook or Twitter back around 2010 and then, just overnight, it wasn't. My original motivation to have Windows Mobile was to have Outlook on my phone. I felt like I just had to have my calendar and task list with me at all times. Now I can get Outlook on any mobile device but the task list doesn't follow. Wunderlist is good but I have found that I actually like iCal and Reminders on my iPhone much better. This should have never happened, but it did. Google probably has a better calendar but has always left those who want a good task list wanting. So, as an ecosystem, I feel better with iCal and Reminders but have an Outlook.com address no matter which device is in my hand. I'm more than ready to have a Windows 10 Mobile device in my pocket as a daily driver but there are a few things I struggle with that keeps me from doing that. One of those most obscure things is the lack of a wearable. Microsoft should have had a watch all along instead of the Band but I pre-ordered the very first Microsoft Band before there was a single review on it and I loved it. I wore the paint off of that thing. It is /ugly/ now but I upgraded to the Band 2 without any reviews to go off or any advertisements to tell me what may have been updated or changed. I was pleasantly surprised that the screen was bigger, wrapped around my wrist better and had a twist of the wrist to wake function that I loved. I wore it out too and actually felt remorse when I heard that Microsoft would not be releasing the Band 3. So, since I was in the Apple ecosystem too, I purchased an Apple Watch. It's not bad looking, it's very comfortable and it has some really cool gimmicky stuff. However, it doesn't come close to the accuracy and availability of valuable data like sleep, the explorer function and other stuff that made me praise the Band so much. Now it's gone and so is my desire to lay down coin on the Microsoft ecosystem. I keep watching though, waiting, wanting... Microsoft is home and I'm ready to return.

 

[James Falconer]

I haven't left Windows Phone, but I do have a problem that's fast approaching.

I'm still using a Lumia 830, and there are no current generation, carrier supported Windows Phones in my country (Canada). One national carrier still offers the 830, and there are no newer devices.

It is, of course, possible to buy an Alcatel Idol 4S outright from Microsoft, but to be blunt, I'm not in a position where that would be a wise financial choice for me.

Sooner or later, I'm going to decide I need a newer device, and I'm going to have a difficult choice to make.

In my opinion, the hardware gap is more significant than the "app gap" at this point.

@hankpym - how about the 950 or 950XL?

 

[Nelle Douville]

Of course I'd come back. I left for a 7 plus six months ago, but my 950 is still in use by my 88 year old mom. I miss W10M. I left because MS was sending out signals they were backing away from mobile, and that just won't do. It has to be all in - in essence, have our backs.

The app gap is significant, and it would take MS innovating its way out of this gap. The one feature my iPhone has that W10M doesn't have is the ability to create new screen pages and not just create groups.

 

[DCTonkaTruck]

I would like to come back. I want to come back. I'm waiting to come back.

All I want is a flagship class phone on Verizon. I would love to have the features of the Elite x3, but I would be happy with something that ran Windows 10 mobile.

I like the app position I am in with this ****ty Android right now, but I would be happy to go back to the best mobile OS if they were on my carrier of choice.

 

[PauloP]

I really like W10M now with the latest fast ring builds, but it's too late to have any hopes regarding the platform.

The camera of my Lumia 950 is stellar and is certainly gonna be missed, but let's face it: MS really lost the battle. They should have stick with the 8.1 version, which was by far much more stable than any W10M iteration. Instead, they insisted in releasing a buggy OS in an already critical moment.

What I see as a definitive dead end for W10M is the complete absence of car integration like Apple and Google have with CarPlay and Android Auto.

P.S.:

Here's some examples of how good Nokia and MS have made Lumias' cameras:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yte44iONclk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noReSmzHJYM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tqKRalTXwY

No one beats a Lumia 950/XL when it comes to low light and audio capture.

 

[Ah Jeremy]

Yes, I just decided to return fully to Windows Phone last 2 days, bought Lumia 950 XL online and going to get the phone tomorrow.

My first Smartphone is Windows Phone HTC, back before Windows Phone Mango Patch released. I fell in love with the UI, the OS - like many others here too, I presumed. Then I bought Lumia 620 as a replacement, also Lumia 1020 Day 1 when it released.

I decided to retire my Lumia 1020 by the start of 2017. It is been lagging and the experience hasn't been very good but the camera is understandable good. There, I jumped to my first non-Windows, an Android Redmi 3S.

It wasn't good. It is Meh. Meh. Meh. Yeah, the Store has vast App Catalogue. I got it and I love being given such big access. However, in terms of UI, I don't think it could be comparable with Windows 10 Mobile. At least IMO. But there is some software features that Mi (Redmi 3S) built in its own Android are quite helpful - like Dual-App, allowing 2 WhatsApp or any other App or recently I find, the App-Restriction Rules for Data Roaming enable.

I do not need to elaborate that Mi-Android Notification is terribly inconsistent and the Home Screen is simply pitiful. Plus, my experience with Mi-Android's Contact, it is weirdly built.

Not to say Windows 10 Mobile's Contact is perfect. Windows 10 Mobile's Contact doesn't have Company field in the Name. Why? Why I have to separately add from Others? And why the Web People in my Web Outlook doesn't show Company field-name because some of my contact just have Company field-name as the only contact name.

After I used my Redmi 3S for about a 1.5 months, I finally received my long-awaited Lumia 640XL from US, due to handling issue, it was delayed shipping. Anyway, I upgraded it to Windows 10 Mobile. It is somewhat lagging, probably due to its weak specs.

I finally decided to switch my main phone or even possibly full to Windows 10 Mobile, one of the main few reasons is my recent discovery of WhatsApp Beta. Hence, this somewhat allow me to run 2 WhatsApp in my single phone.

Hopefully, tomorrow and onwards after receiving my Lumia 950 XL, my experience with Windows 10 Mobile will continue to be better.

EDIT: I think I will still keep my Redmi 3S around for the first few month.

 

[anon(9812986)]

@hankpym - how about the 950 or 950XL?

I'd love to, but like I said, buying a new phone outright simply isn't an option for me right now.

 

[RayWP7]

Yeap, as a former owner of nearly every Windows phone/mobile device made, I would definitely come back. But only with a few conditions:

I need (now) to be able to control my home automation, banking, and ... a mobile wallet. The top reason I would stick with iPhone (now) would be Apple Pay/ Wallet. It's just too damn convenient and helluva lot faster than CHIP transactions (for retailers that support it - and most of mine do). Thats it. Home Automation (i.e. SMARTHINGS WHY DID YOU LEAVE WINDOWS), banking (CHASE principally, but also all other major credit cards), and a fast and useful credit card wallet. Even Fandangos integration with Wallet is super convenient.

I only ever left because I needed some stability and thought Microsoft's hiatus from Windows Mobile consumer was a good time to take that break. I participated in every beta, in every "ring", etc. I earned a break! (keeps telling myself, embarassed that I ever left at all :sweaty I still hate iTunes. I still mostly loathe their boring interface. And I dislike proprietary connectors.

 

[ClixT]

Re: I Keep coming back to WP

Well, I think it has been a year since I got my iPhone SE. I still have my 1520 and I use it daily as my mini tablet for watching YouTube, Netflix, etc. but yeah in a way I miss using it as my "phone" but I'm quite satisfied with my SE. I admit, I still prefer WMs UI than the SE. I got bored with SE a few months after I got it.

Oh and would I come back fulltime to WM? Probably. There are some apps that I use daily that's not available on WM, but we'll see! I'm still optimistic with the future of Windows.

 

[mryan55]

I have bounced around the mobile landscape quite a bit in the decade since my first smartphone. The early days were dominated by Windows Mobile devices, simply because it was near the peak of its market share when the Samsung Ace, HTC Touch Pro II, and HTC HD2 were out. In 2010 I switched over to BlackBerry and remained pretty faithful to the BBOS and BB10 platform until support started to disappear. With a few Android devices in between these other devices, I stumbled across the 950XL at launch in 2015. I had just purchased a Surface Book and was interested in having uniformity across my devices. I used the 950XL until an odd Outlook problem manifested itself last summer (emails not using the "Send Mail As" in the header -- meaning outgoing emails only show my email address, not name. Sadly, this problem still persists).

I picked up a BlackBerry DTEK60 last fall at launch to try their flavor of Android, and I like it quite a bit. I still love the design of that device -- and the Alcatel Idol 4S as well. However, the HP Elite x3 being on sale for $599 with desk dock seemed like a fair deal compared to the 950XL at $649 at launch, and this is a much nicer example of industrial design... at least I'd say so.

Not yet using the x3 as my daily driver, but getting things set up and giving Continuum a very big Test drive this time around.

 

[nate0]

Microsoft is in a difficult spot. It is taking a long time for them to get to a place where people can enjoy the world out there from there handheld. We really, ultimately do not know the plan from our perspective, and some times we have nothing to go on except that we know and can count on Microsoft continually bringing updates. But apps, OS features and awesomeness, and newer devices is taking a painfully long time. Folks who leave may never come back or if they do it will be a long time before they do...
To me 12 months is long time, and peoples lives change way faster than that.

 

[mryan55]

Originally posted by Nate W
Microsoft is in a difficult spot. It is taking a long time for them to get to a place where people can enjoy the world out there from there handheld. We really, ultimately do not know the plan from our perspective, and some times we have nothing to go on except that we know and can count on Microsoft continually bringing updates. But apps, OS features and awesomeness, and newer devices is taking a painfully long time. Folks who leave may never come back or if they do it will be a long time before they do...
To me 12 months is long time, and peoples lives change way faster than that.

It's definitely looking like we could hit the 2+ year mark without a new Microsoft branded flagship. Although the Alcatel Idol 4S is great hardware and the Elite x3 is in the same boat, these devices will see much more limited distribution than a Lumia device. With the 'flagship' 950 and 950XL approaching 18 months on the market, many people have upgraded from that device and to Android or iOS simply because they are much easier carrier upgrade paths than trying to stick with Windows Phone or BlackBerry10, which has already seen all of its share disappear.

 

[nate0]

I know...I am in IT. iOS devices do not really appeal to me because of that. Android devices can be as buggy or more than a windows mobile phone. The are less secure, and honestly for lack of a better word, to me there is no substance there with Android. I feel I will always keep coming back to Windows mobile and phones as long as they exist.

 

[Sathees kumar]

I am a long time WP user, have used many lumias.
But due to 'app gap' and some other issues, i changed ships.
As of now, i have an Iphone 6 from work, a One plus 3 as personal daily driver AND a 640 XL which i use occasionally when i get all nostalgic about WP :grin:

To tell you guys the truth
# Iphone is good when it comes to stability, apps, restoring from backups etc - but i always feel it is an overpriced phone with less user controls. It feels like a toy
# One plus 3- very good camera, real fast charging but what puts me off is occasional heating up issues, battery drains real fast, hangs/freezes and occasional unexplained reboots. Is short, i cannot count on this device. Battery may drain unexpectedly, etc..
# Lumia 640XL - love the UI, the plastic feel ( i hate metallic feel of the phones), very good camera, OS fluidity.. Occasional lags, app crashes are common but not show stoppers. I feel its real value for money **If you don't have issues with App gap**

To Sum up, i love WP, have always loved it. BUT MS screwed it up
App gap can get frustrating sometimes.
I am not a big fan of apps. I mostly use twitter, mails, whatsapp, maps etc. All these seem to work well. BUT some apps like uber, banking apps ( Indian banks) and MS office seems to suck real bad !!!

** If MS "could" close the app gap for critical apps, spend some bucks on marketing, i believe WP can bring IOS and Android to their knees**

Is it just me or you folks too get the same feeling or dumping IOS/android and moving back to "home"
What do you guys think? Please share views and opinions..

 

[Shubham26]

With me it's still that I don't even want/need to go away from Windows 10 Mobile The app gap is non-existent in my case. Recently I had a pleasure of helping a friend unpack and start-up a new android phone and every once in a while I thought how I'm glad to be on Windows.

Me too. Bought android for my Mom and setting up that device was so much pain. settings in windows 10 mobile are so simple to find and understand. Above all there is no permanent way to disable an app to run in background unlike windows phones.

The way ads are displayed in free version of apps is horrifying. They interfere in your work by displaying full screen ads. I never saw this in windows phones. The internal storage increases day by day and the cache and google play services take a huge amount of ever-growing space. No wonder these devices slow down after a few months.

PS. Its a Moto e3 power with stock android. Previously my Mom owned a Lumia 535. had to give it up due to touch issues.

 

[nate0]

Me too. Bought android for my Mom and setting up that device was so much pain. settings in windows 10 mobile are so simple to find and understand. Above all there is no permanent way to disable an app to run in background unlike windows phones.
The way ads are displayed in free version of apps is horrifying. They interfere in your work by displaying full screen ads. I never saw this in windows phones. The internal storage increases day by day and the cache and google play services take a huge amount of ever-growing space. No wonder these devices slow down after a few months.
PS. Its a Moto e3 power with stock android. Previously my Mom owned a Lumia 535. had to give it up due to touch issues.

I do not think there is a new Android phone out there let's say in the past 2 years, that came with 1gb of RAM and would be able to run MM or N as smoothly as lets say the lower end x50 lineup. Honestly it is hard when comparing platforms, because each is unique, each offer a plethora of things. Kinda like comparing apples to oranges. However even with the newest iteration of W10M the devices on the low end that came preinstalled with W10M do not perform all that bad. Like you said they can be tweaked to do better to. To me that says more than words on how much is wasted in overhead in some Android devices. I am not OS dev per-say to know and understand precisely what's going on, and W10M does not run perfect on every device... but to see so much wasted like that or device makers trying to appeal only to what people want to see is painful to watch. 6GB of RAM just seems unreal to have to need it running in my hand, on a mobile OS...but that is why it is out there, so we can choose.

 

[Sathees kumar]

I'm having Lumia 730. I still love on WP and won't dump my WP for any other platforms' even it faces app gaps. I still hope on MS will do best in the future. UWP plays vital role in Windows platform now. After UWP many good apps comes to the store. The main problem for the app gap is less WP market share compared to android and iOS. Developers are not creating their new apps to this platform because it is has less user base. When it comes to android and iOS they have large base and developers bring new feature to their apps and creating new one. Even we have that app in our platform the update roles out for them only not for us. When it comes to user,they are buy WP because it doesn't have essential apps and app gaps. It's a war between user and developers, so MS need to take necessary action for this issue. Let us hope WP will succeed in future .

 

[darrell reimer]

I am a long time WP user, have used many lumias.
But due to 'app gap' and some other issues, i changed ships.
As of now, i have an Iphone 6 from work, a One plus 3 as personal daily driver AND a 640 XL which i use occasionally when i get all nostalgic about WP :grin:

To tell you guys the truth
# Iphone is good when it comes to stability, apps, restoring from backups etc - but i always feel it is an overpriced phone with less user controls. It feels like a toy
# One plus 3- very good camera, real fast charging but what puts me off is occasional heating up issues, battery drains real fast, hangs/freezes and occasional unexplained reboots. Is short, i cannot count on this device. Battery may drain unexpectedly, etc..
# Lumia 640XL - love the UI, the plastic feel ( i hate metallic feel of the phones), very good camera, OS fluidity.. Occasional lags, app crashes are common but not show stoppers. I feel its real value for money **If you don't have issues with App gap**

To Sum up, i love WP, have always loved it. BUT MS screwed it up
App gap can get frustrating sometimes.
I am not a big fan of apps. I mostly use twitter, mails, whatsapp, maps etc. All these seem to work well. BUT some apps like uber, banking apps ( Indian banks) and MS office seems to suck real bad !!!

** If MS "could" close the app gap for critical apps, spend some bucks on marketing, i believe WP can bring IOS and Android to their knees**

Is it just me or you folks too get the same feeling or dumping IOS/android and moving back to "home"
What do you guys think? Please share views and opinions..

I left iOS when I dumped my iPhone 4 and bought an ATIV S; best move I ever made! Since then, I've moved up to the ATIV SE, Lumia 830, 650, and 950 XL. Great phones! Great OS. Don't miss 'the apps'; just pin mobile web sites to my start screen. Tried to leave WP for Android; lasted 2 days, and was back home. Have a work issued iPad; looks the same as my old iPhone 4 did five years ago. Windows 10 across all platforms is the best!